Author Preety Praveen: I weathered many a storm

Preety Praveen studied dentistry and psychology but her first love was always writing

 

As a teenager in school in Patiala, Preety Praveen would write poems and that was the beginning of her love affair with the pen. “Theatre, skits and dialogues for films — I have done them all,” says Preety who launched her book, Cross Connection , on Valentine’s Day at Sapna Book House.

Her life took her to many places including Salem in Tamil Nadu to study dentistry and Bahrain where her husband worked. Preety 43, says, “I come from a middleclass family and my parents wanted me to follow the established path. They urged me to do engineering or medicine. I was however, interested in dentistry and seats were available only in a particular college in Tamil Nadu.”

It was in Salem that Preety met her future husband, Praveen Nambiar. It was also in Salem that Preety met with a serious accident that rendered her immobile. “Life parted our ways. After a few years I gathered myself and finished my masters in psychology from Kolkata University.” Preety and Praveen eventually married.

While in Bahrain and during her frequent visits to India, Preety wrote several plays, and even acted in a short Hindi movie based on Partition that was released online. “I acted as a 65-year-old lady.” As the head of the Indian Ladies Association in Bahrain Preety wrote many short movies and plays that were staged and screened there. “My last play was Aashiana Mera that talks of a girl’s role before and after marriage. I was also worked on a lot of comedy theatre shows which was staged at the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin.”

After two decades Preety has returned to India and settled in Bengaluru, to “connect with the culture and people.” Speaking of

Cross Connection Preety says, “This is my first work of fiction. It is based on my life. I had to weather many a storm, but there is calm now. After the response, I am writing a sequel to the book,

A Pocket Full of Promises .”